Bollywood's best posters of 2009

Bollywood's best posters of 2009

No matter how much you like the maker and the stars, a lame one-sheet makes you cringe, and your buzz begins to wane. On the other hand, a film and creators you've never heard of might have a poster that makes you instantly curious.

Some click, some don't -- and a good poster doesn't a good film make. And vice versa.

That in mind, check out my favourite posters of 2009:

Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani

Sure we have nine shots of Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif in the poster, but they're looking (mostly) far from conventional screen lovers, goofing off in a range of candids that end up looking like a comic book made out of polaroids. Neat.

Chandni Chowk To China

Akshay Kumar has frequently gone on record to say that he signed this film based on the poster, and while that isn't the most sound school of thought (see review), it sure is a terrific poster, featuring a chef too swashbuckling to be true.

Luck By Chance

It's the sight of Hrithik Roshan in that absurd silver top hat, really. Farhan Akhtar sits, in black on a black bench, looking slightly scared as we can see the Bollywood circus spilling out behind him.

There's glitz and colour -- no coincidence that Konkona Sen Sharma wears white to his black -- and there's whimsy, via Hrithik and the elephants. Interesting, without question.

Paa

Let's not go into the father-son-father-son space that the posters later showed, but the first long-awaited glimpse we had of Paa came with these two teaser posters, the first showing two feet sticking out of a brown cardboard box -- don't miss the schoolboy shoes -- and the second has two holes for hands (somewhat let down by the visible hands in the first shot, though) and one for the head, a bald, veiny one.